Disclaimer: Retrevo is not responsible for any damage done to your device if you should attempt to hack it. It is a risky procedure that voids your warranty and could make your phone inoperable.

Here at Retrevo we spend a lot of time researching phones “for work”. It’s a worthy pastime given the sheer volume – the many models and makes and operating systems. There is so much that smartphones are capable of doing, including some compelling things that aren’t exactly endorsed by carriers and manufactures. Here are a few of the interesting hacks that we’ve come across.

Cydia (For iPhone)
Cydia is the iTunes for jailbroken iPhones. It contains a ton of extra apps that utilize root access - they will do things that regular apps can’t. It’s important to note that jailbroken iPhones are still be able download and use iTunes apps.

Increased Performance/Custom ROMs
(For Android)With so many varieties of Android OS – because so many carriers and manufacturers tweak it in specific ways – the software doesn’t always take full advantage of what the hardware is capable of. There are a few developers that create custom ROMs – with some reporting increased performance. ROM means Read Only Memory, but the term has been appropriated within the modding community to refer to a stand-alone, customized version of the OS that is installed into the ROM area of the phone.

FaceTime over 3G
(For iPhone)
Currently Apple limits FaceTime video calls to iPhones that connected over a WiFi network. There are a couple apps in Cydia that will fool your iPhone into thinking you are connected over WiFi when instead you are connected over 3G. This means FaceTime anywhere you like for as long as you like.

Overclocking
(For Android and iPhone)
Overclocking basically means running your phones processor at a speed higher than the manufactured setting; it can be done with any processor. For example, the processor for the iPhone 3GS is 833MHz but it runs at only 600MHz. With a hack, you can speed up the processor and get a considerably faster phone. There are of course, good reasons that the manufacturers set the limits where they are – battery life and cooling being two good examples.

Customization
(For Android and iPhone)
This word gets thrown around a lot, but its importance is really not to be underestimated. This is probably the primary reason people hack their phone, with a jailbreak they can create individualized wallpaper, change each icon, design a theme, record a ringtone, and even change the lockscreen to display information that they would like to have access to without having to go into the phone.

Free Unlimited Tethering
(For Android and iPhone)
It’s only been recently that carriers have introduced tethering, but hackers have been doing it for years. With a rooted Android you can tether over both WiFi and Bluetooth. Sure, you could do this through your carrier, but be prepared to pay an extra $20-$40 dollars a month for the privilege.

As we go to press it appears that Google is bowing to carriers wishes regarding apps that allow tethering. In the Android market there are (were) a few paid apps that would set up the phone to tether, without having to pay the carrier. The fact that Google is now blocking those apps is going to make rooting even more tempting to users who don't want to pay those hefty tethering fees.

Screenshots (For Android)
One of the most baffling options to be left out of Android is the ability to take screenshots. Supposedly this is coming in the next update, but it can take awhile for those to be pushed to all phones. In the meantime, there’s a hacked app for that. The two most highly rated are Screenshot It and Screenshot, both of which allow screenshots to taken, and saved at PNG or JPG format.

Most of these that need jailbreaking are available on WP7 without going through hoops.
I would much rather NOT have to jailbreak a phone and possibly void a warranty, overheat my phone, causing premature failure and/or reduce battery life.